Randy Oliver Article about Hazards of Neonicotinoids vs Other Pesticides

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WLC... I would respectfully disagree with that statement, as it applies to the article at hand..

Any time you are writing about a subject, should you only preach to your membership. No, you should seek out those with differing opinions and try to convince them. You get a larger and more diverse audience when you publish in journals who fundamentally disagree with you.

No accomplished author would ever consent to only being published in journals where everyone agrees with him. If so, only a very few would even bother to read it, even fewer would challenge any findings or conclusions.

In scientific studies not only the content or conclusions, should be challenged, but, methodology and control. More importantly, can the results be duplicated. I would encourage everyone to read every article with an open mind, then start sorting. Never attack some author simply because the work was published in a certain forum, or, because that forum has an unrelated stand or opinion that you disagree with.

There is a TED u-tube presentation from Marla Spivak ya all should check out she nails it. Spot on. Randy’s science is a bit thin really sounds like a self promoting high school paper. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY7iATJVCso

If you find Randy's Science flawed then the professional response is to intellectually challenge that Science instead of disparaging the messenger. Example: I found the Science in Marla Spivak's TED presentation to be unbalanced because it failed to mention the number of honeybee colonies in the USA has actually been steady for 20 years and growing in recent years and that most beekeepers themselves do not forsee a rapidly approaching "tipping point" where the nations food supply is threatened. And with regard to the impact of neonics and monocultures on CCD, Marla failed to mention CCD hardly exists in very heavy neonic and monocultural areas like Illinois and failed to mention feral colonies appear to be doing fine in Illinois. And Marla failed to mention the prevalence of CCD has been on the decline in recent years even though neonic usage has been increasing. And while Marla's proposal to grow wildflowers everywhere sounds appealing, she left out critical details like whether it would be logistically possible and financially affordable for Society to compensate more than a handful of farmers to grow wildflower strips (instead of more food crops) on their land.

Do you find yourself frustrated after reading WLC's comments? Do you feel uncomfortable doing so? Do you read his comments anyway?

If you do what you have always done you will experience what you have always experienced. That's what I used to do. And it often brought out in me things I did not like. So, I no longer read WLC's comments and I am a better person for it. We each have an Ignore List. Whether we use it or not is up to each of us.

Touché..., excellent point. After dealing with a nasty alcoholic father for my entire life I finally disowned him over 10 years ago and it was truly cathartic. Even after that, on occasion I need reminding that life is simply too short to waste my time with self-absorbed energy vampires that only get their strength and enjoyment out of selfishness and making others angry or uncomfortable.